AMEX membership rewards vs. traditional miles earning card

So my wife's company finally made her adhere to the corporate policy of using the AMEX Corp card for business purchases. She spends about $3000K or so a month, so I have to part with those miles on my Delta AMEX.

Amex contends that the only choice to "reward" her spending is the $75 annual fee membership rewards program. To those that have it, what do you think about the program?? Is it easy to convert points to miles? Do they ever offer "double points" promos like Delta AMEX does? or even double points on certain purchases like gas, grocery, etc...

Just trying to maximize the spending.. as we all are!!

Any help would be appreciated... thanks in advance!!

Originally posted by kalman911:
Do they ever offer "double points" promos like Delta AMEX does? or even double points on certain purchases like gas, grocery, etc...

A great way to use MR points is to move them to Starwood, then move them on to many airline programs at the rate of 20,000 for 25,000 airline points (sadly, not UA where the rate is 2 starwood for 1 UA).

So, get double MR for "everyday" at the supermarket, move to US via starwood and $1 spend becomes 2.5 US miles http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by PhillyFive (edited 08-02-2003).]

A great way to use MR points is to move them to Starwood, then move them on to many airline programs at the rate of 20,000 for 25,000 airline points (sadly, not UA where the rate is 2 starwood for 1 UA).

So, get double MR for "everyday" at the supermarket, move to US via starwood and $1 spend becomes 2.5 US miles

Actually this is a terrible use of miles if you are pulling the miles out of Membership Rewards. You lose two thirds the value when doing so. Best just to start with the best credit card out there, the Amex Starwood Optima card.

I have been subscribing to this program for over 5 years. Transferring points to FF programs is as easy as clicking once (after you have linked your FF memberships to the MR program), and they are credited within one business day. I used this sometimes, when I needed to top up the FF programs for immediate needs.

Originally posted by freakflyer:
Actually this is a terrible use of miles if you are pulling the miles out of Membership Rewards. You lose two thirds the value when doing so. Best just to start with the best credit card out there, the Amex Starwood Optima card.

With apologies, I stand corrected. MR exchange to Marriott and some others is 1:1, but I forgot (a real no-no!!) that Starwood is 3MR:1SPG. Mea culpa !! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/redface.gif

I second the comment on the Amex Starwood card, which does get you to the 20,000 SPG for 25,000 airline benefit.

I agree that, in general, the MR program is excellent. However, read my thread under the American Express category regarding my recent problems with transfering points online. As long as your preferred airline is on's Am Ex's "list," then you'll probably be very pleased with the program.

I have been a member of AMEX Membership Rewards for a long time. Currently have over 380K miles and I love the program. Transferring miles into FF accounts or hotel accounts is easy as pie. Only problem is that not all airlines belong!

I would recommend this program to anyone! Why don't you check out all the things you can do with your miles on the AMEX website. You can even use the miles to purchase electronics,etc. on the AMEX site.

I have not complaints and will continue to belong! Good Luck!

Membership Rewards DOES offer you the option of using your points for many things besides miles.

And if your airline of choice participates, then yes, transferring to miles is easy. With Delta I believe it is a 1 to 1 transfer, in increments of 1,000 points.

Transferring to hotel points is also easy, however, in my experience there is usually a significant devaluation of your MR points.

I like the program. It is easy to convert points to miles, although bonuses are rare. More important, there are a plethora of awards other than flights and hotels

Originally posted by PhillyFive:
So, get double MR for "everyday" at the supermarket, move to US via starwood and $1 spend becomes 2.5 US miles http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

so this means that there ARE double miles for everyday purchases like grocery, wireless bill, etc?? (I currently use Delta AMEX that does offer this)

the amex phone rep didn't know of such a thing...

thanks for all your input guys.. i went ahead and joined the program..

I second all the posts above.

Amex MR program is great because it is very flexible. Although the number of airlines for point transfers is not exhaustive, you can get most of your bases covered if you want to fly.

The other thing is -- points never expire! Not even with that 'use at 3 year' rule.

I have collected 250+K over the years. Only transferred points a few times, but I do not recall a hassle. Just give yourself enough time to make they get posted to you FF account (don't try to transfer at the last minute).

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Da DOK

gnarly, you can transfer Amex MR points directly to your US Dividend Miles account without washing them through a hotel program.

Can this be taken one stage further? I want to add FF miles to my US Airways account, but being in the UK, without a US credit history, I can't get their visa.

I can, however, get an Amex, join MR and offload the rewards into other schemes. How feasible would it be to us an Amex to feed a hotel account, e.g. Marriott, which in turn would feed me some US dividend miles?

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Hang out a while with your MR points and recently, every year a bonus transfer offer has come along from CO or DL where you get a 25% bonus on the transfers.

Amex Membership Rewards is an outstanding program. Many Airline Partners (where you can transfer points for miles on a 1:1): Aeromexico, Continental, Delta, El Al, Hawaiian, Mexicana, US Air, Virgin. Mexicana is a member of Star Alliance so you can transfer to Mexicana for United rewards. There are also partner airlines where you can obtain Reward Certificates such as Air Jamaica, Air Lingus, Air France, Alitalia, Cathay Pacific, Frontier, Lanchile, Qantas, South African, Swiss, In addition, Hotel Partners such as: Marriott, Hilton, Best Western, Starwood. And every quarter or two there is a 15% or 25% transfer points to an airline bonus (currently through 8/15/03 transfer to Delta for a 15% bonus). This week I will transfer to Delta 150K for a 22.5k bonus, that's not too shabby. Good luck on your decision.

Originally posted by monitor:
Hang out a while with your MR points and recently, every year a bonus transfer offer has come along from CO or DL where you get a 25% bonus on the transfers.

I believe there's a 15% DL transfer promo running now. A search in the DL or AMEX will confirm.

[This message has been edited by phoenixitc (edited 08-01-2003).]

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